Matt McLaughlin

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. -William Shakespeare Secondary education in the United States certainly has changed since it was the bane of my existence back in the 1970s. While officially, English is still our most-spoken language outside of some 7-Elevens and Dunkin’ Donuts, I’m told …

1. The Championship 4 is set, and it consists of arguably the four best cars over the course of the season. Who do you see claiming the title next week? Wesley Coburn: Kyle Busch wins because, even though Kevin Harvick has the best average finish of the four championship drivers …

I’ve seen so many things, I ain’t never seen before, Someone turn out the lights, I don’t want to see anymore. –Three Dog Night There are tons of colorful stories about the ultimate showman and circus owner P.T. Barnum, some of them apocryphal. One I’ve heard quite often involves a …

After about 25 years of writing about NASCAR racing, I have my rituals for the night before an event down to a science. Print the starting lineup. Print the points standings. Dig out the sheet that shows what points the various positions pay. Make sure there are adequate cigarettes to …

I’ve never been much on gambling. Perhaps that’s because I’ve lived most of my adult life in the suburbs of Philly. Our professional sports teams are notorious for failing to live up to expectations. Even with success seemingly imminent, those teams will find a way to wrest defeat out of …

Let me start by saying I cannot summon up my normal degree of rage when I disagree with calls NASCAR has made from this weekend. Anytime a restrictor plate race concludes and I don’t have to start working on a driver obituary or try to gather information on fans injured …

1. With the final plate race at Talladega Superspeedway looming, what is the best strategy for the playoff contenders? Zach Gillispie: The plate races are always chaotic and full of unknowns. In the previous format (before stage racing), we saw several playoff drivers ride in the back and have favorable …

There’s a place in nearly every small town across America, or at least there still was during those years I was making a somewhat feeble attempt at growing up. In our town, it was the local Wawa, which is sort of like a 7-Eleven for people in the Philly area …

If you’re old enough that you hear the term “anticipation” and you still think Carly Simon and not catsup the lead up to Sunday’s ROVAL race probably had you whistling that old hit single. As I noted last week there was a whole lot of hype leading up to the …

Be careful what you wish for… you just might get it, or so I’m told. After all, when you asked your parents for a pony, you didn’t specify you wanted a pet you could ride, not a freezer full of equine meat with a little belled collar added for irony. …